Do you feel safe when you’re carrying a lot of cash with you? How do you feel when no one is ready to accept the ‘two-thousand-rupee note’ that’s in your pocket, especially when you have to make an urgent purchase or pay just a few hundred rupees to someone?

Aimed at changing this ‘cash dependent’ habit, Paytm has introduced #AadatSeAazadi campaign that aims to spread awareness about convenience of digital payments and how it can help reduce the dependence on cash. The campaign is currently live across all social media platforms with the video having already garnered more than 5 million views and exponential engagement on all social platforms.

In the video, the viewer is taken on a poetic journey to showcase some of the commonly experienced inconvenient cash-dependent situations & subsequently highlighting the merits of going cashless.

Jaskaran Kapany, Vice President - Marketing, Paytm, said, "This film is an important initiative to encourage fellow countrymen to contribute towards building a cash-free nation. ‘AadatSeAazadi’ is a powerful message to break the ‘habit' of dependence on cash and embrace the convenience of digital payments. We feel encouraged seeing millions of Indians using Paytm for their payments to grocery stores, for auto fares, electricity and to send money to their families among others. We are the pioneers in digital payments and we will continue investing in our efforts to take it to every nook and corner of the country.”

Britannia Industries will be announcing media agency review soon. The company sources have confirmed this development to exchange4media.

Currently Essence (GroupM) is the agency on record (AOR) for Britannia which underwent massive rebranding exercise recently. Prior to Essence, the account was handled by Madison Media. The account size is estimated to be in the range of Rs 200 to 250 crore.

Some of the popular brands from the company include—Good Day, Tiger, Milk Bikis, NutriChoice, Treat among others.

In an earlier interview with exchange4media, Ali Harris Shere, VP-Marketing at Britannia had pointed out that the biscuit major was looking to align with big shifts taking place in the industry and according to reliable sources the call for media review could be a step in that direction.

“There are some big shifts happening in the consumer world and we track those shifts and we are moving in the same direction. At 100, we really thought we should reset ourselves and have the vision going forward,” Shere had stated.

Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly changing the society and its foundation, but how much of it is actually happening at the ground level? How is technology transforming modern enterprises and FMCG companies?

He talked about how machine intelligence is helping organisations which are farmers-based and bringing in opportunities for AI. Sodhi set off his session on a lighter note joking how in his company he knew of only AI i.e. artificial insemination. He delved into Amul’s history, on how a 72-year old cooperative started off from a small town of Anand and went on to become India’s biggest dairy company.

He explained with numbers, “We collect 23 million litres of milk per day, 85 per cent from Gujarat and 15 per cent outside. It is owned by 3.6 million farmers in Gujarat. It provides livelihood to millions of people. It’s the largest FMCG brand with Rs 41,000 crore for the fiscal year ’17-18. We are growing over the last eight years at CAGR of 18 per cent.”

Speaking of marketing, Sodhi mentioned that back in the day it was simple. “When I joined sales and marketing it was all about positioning the product and market. It was simple. There were mass media, mass marketing, and transaction. It was one-way communication. The balance was in the hands of the marketer.”

Sodhi added that now with the help of AI one can do fragmentation which was easy back in his days. But now after spending Rs.100 crores also brands aren’t satisfied with media planning because of social media. There are now opportunities for deeper two-way integration with consumers using digital technology. “Now communication is two way.”

Sodhi specified what he’s looking for an AI solution. It’s majorly to communicate with consumers directly, to see how technology can be used for deeper and targeted distribution for rural India and how to cultivate consumers’ interest and habit for products. “From 1952 till today we think that high business productivity will create more jobs and wages. But the reality is jobs are not coming.”

He then moved on to technology and how it enables deeper distribution. Monitoring performance of field staff without going to the field is possible with a distribution management system. Sodhi explained, “Most FMCGs are using this distribution management system which helps them monitor each transaction, plan production and know how much distributor has sold to each retailer.” AI has helped Amul and its management to know what’s happening at the retailer level, manage the inventory and ensure smooth transportation of finished product movement with GIS. Sodhi added, “You get to know whether the truck stopped in between or whether the lid of one of the cans has been opened.”

To overcome new age marketing challenges Sodhi advised keeping a finger on the consumer pulse, thinking or modifying strategy as per new age challenges, ensuring cost efficiency and excelling in core competency. “If the system is not cost-efficient for an organisation like ours, value for mass and value for money will not happen,” he warned.

Sodhi advised that AI should help in decision making but it shouldn’t be fully allowed to make decisions on behalf of the human, then it’s going to be dangerous. It should not replace the 'hunch', specifically.

The CEO signed off with a statutory warning, “AI is good if it’s going to serve humankind not only the bottom line.”

Artificial Intelligence has been demonised by some as the technology that will take away human jobs and diminish the role of humans in many processes, including creative. But it is in fact a technology that will enable humans to do better. Sharing this view, Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman & CEO, AMEA, Russia, and CIS, Mindshare, believes AI is a tool that will “amplify human intelligence.”

Srivastava delivered a masterclass on artificial intelligence, what it means, how it can be used and its results to a packed audience at the exchange4media Conclave held in Mumbai on November 16. In his session, Srivastava focussed on explaining how to use AI to find the right people at the right time at the right platform and create engagement in a way that works for brands.

Laying down the ground rules to create the best environment to harness AI, Srivastava said, “You need use your own data in your business, have the talent that understands marketing and tell the machine what to look for to make AI really work for you.”

One of the uses of AI that Srivastava highlighted was programmatic ad buying and digital ad insertions personalised at scale which cannot be done manually by humans. In fact Mindshare has used AI in the form of Anna which uses a bespoke AI to construct an integrated media and creative algorithm that powers the operations at the DSP and DCO platforms. The personalisation of the ad creative resulted in an 2.5X increase in CTR for the brand, enabling it to target consumers at 7,000 odd touch points.

He further explained how a machine clusters touchpoints that are more favourable for advertisers and can automatically buy ads as per the millions of combinations of those touch points thereby reducing the cost cost per acquisition for a client. Srivastava then showed the audience how AI can help find the right target audience among a sea of audience.

Srivastava also touched upon how AI can be used to make predictions of the next big moment for a brand to place ads.

“This is just the beginning of how AI is changing deployment,” he said. He further added that as marketers begin to get familiar with AI they should start doing small pilot projects, capture those learnings and make them bigger.

Padamsee touched the lives of many advertising professionals during his career, shaping them and sculpting them into the leaders that they are today.

Many of those whose lives Padamsee influenced took to Twitter, sharing their impressions of the legendary man whom they knew as God. Even the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, tweeted his condolences. “Saddened by the demise of Shri Alyque Padamsee. A wonderful communicator, his extensive work in world of advertising will always be remembered. His contribution to theatre was also noteworthy. My thoughts are with his family and friends in this sad hour,” PM Modi tweeted.

Woke up to the saddest news of my guru and mentor #AlyquePadamsee is no more. He hired me and Chax personally in 1992 for #Lintas . This was my last picture with him few months ago. I share my grief with his family. May his Soul rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/C8G6nfX4PV

Saddened to hear of the passing of Ad Guru and Theatre doyen #AlyquePadamsee.
He gave me my first break in Theatre, like countless before and after me.
Maverick, Unique, Uncompromising.
There will never be another....#RIP Alyque.

I will always remember him for making India’s first hugely mounted and fabulously enacted musical, Evita. It left us spellbound. A creative genius, fearlessly outspoken. He epitomized “Bombay.” #AlyquePadamsee

Shri #AlyquePadamsee's contribution in the field of advertising was immense. He will also be remembered for his acting and love for theatre. My thoughts & prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/etAHfO70yA

“Few men of action have been able to make a graceful exit at the appropriate time. “ #AlyquePadamsee was a larger than life person in every sense of the word. He gave finesse to everything he did. Theatre, ad film world, cinema, fans & friends will miss him & his style.? pic.twitter.com/TosoY7N1h6

A true citizen is judged by how he/she reacts in tough times. When Bombay/Mumbai was burning in 1992-93, Alyque Padamsee lent his powerful voice to the affected people of a scarred city. Salute.. RIP #AlyquePadamsee

A liberal and vocal mumbaikar and one of most creative adman & theatre personality of our time #AlyquePadamsee is no more.He was a living legend.
Mumbai will always miss him for his concern for the city.
God bless his soul.#RIP

Playshifu, the brand for educational learning toys for kids in India, launches its new product - Shifu Orboot. The toy is a one-of-its-kind globe enhanced by Augmented Reality for kids learning. In India, it is available on PlayShifu website, Amazon, Flipkart, Hamleys, Toys”R”US, Crossword, Landmark and many other retail stores in metropolitan and Tier II cities.

Shifu ‘Orboot’ allows children to explore the world beyond boundaries through the companion app, providing an immersive and interactive learning experience. ‘Orboot’ app is available on both Android and iOS and works with smartphones and tablets as well. The new product from Playshifu sensitises the young minds to understand the cultures and people around the world making them global citizens. With a passport, country flags and travel stamps included, Orboot completes the experience for the little globetrotter. It is an educational toy for the ever-curious child that sparks curiosity and helps build knowledge, linguistic and cognitive skills.

Commemorating the launch of ‘Orboot’ in India, Vivek Goyal, Founder & CEO, PlayShifu said, “PlayShifu has successfully delivered world-class innovation through PlayShifu’s products to a market which had suffered from a lack of innovation till date. Through the power of ‘Orboot’ and the connected mobile app, now children can travel the seven continents from the comfort of their homes. They can explore the cultures, inventions, monuments, wildlife, cuisines, maps, and weather relevant to each location.”

The digital gameplay is enriched with realistic 3D figures, engaging voice-overs, and regional music. Shifu Orboot has won hearts among children, parents, and educators all across the world and we are gaining great acclamation in India as well. We look forward to bring all new range of Augmented Reality toys for interactive learning of kids in the coming time,” he added.

PlayShifu has launched its consumer technology products in 11 countries and has participated in the largest global trade fairs including the New York Toy Fair, Hong Kong Toy Fair, and the Nuremberg Toy Fair. Along with other products from Playshifu, Shifu Orboot also sells globally through Amazon and various retail channels in countries like US, UK, Canada, Poland, Germany, Japan, Australia, and the Middle East.

Virendra Gupta, Founder & CEO, Dailyhunt and Umang Bedi, President, Dailyhunt were honoured with the exchange4media Influencer of the Year Award. CVL Srinivas, Country Manager, WPP and the winner of the 2017 exchange4media Influencer of the Year award and Raj Nayak, COO Viacom18 who was the winner of the 2016 exchange4media Influencer of the Year award presented the award to the duo.

On working together with Gupta and the win, Bedi said, "Its been the most amazing enterprenuial journey. Viru and I have been brothers because we are so aligned in our thinking. He understands bharat at the grassroots level and I understand the scale of businesses. We are so complimentary in our skill-sets. In life you need an elder brother. And for me, that's what he stands for."

An elated Gupta said, "On the behalf of team Dailyhunt, I humbly accept this award. As you know, our vision is to bridge the digital divide and we proud ourselves as one of the companies that is trying to fight off the digital prominence of Facebook and Google. We are 150 million monthly active users and till next year, we should be 300-350 monthly active users. This award is a belief by all of you in us and we are just getting started."

Beginning in 2016, the exchange4media group initiated the Influencer of the Year award. The award honours visionaries who have transformed the industry and inspired the next level of growth while progressively using innovative technology for business achievements.

The exchange4media Conclave, sibling of BW Businessworld, is considered the highest authority in the business of media, marketing and advertising news and developments. The event was held on November 16 at the Taj, Snatacruz in Mumbai and the theme this year is “Marketer and Machine: How AI will transform marketing?. Virendra Gupta, Founder & CEO, Dailyhunt and Umang Bedi, President, Dailyhunt were honoured with the exchange4media Influencer of the Year Award (Main image).

From smartphones to driverless cars, there is no denying that artificial intelligence is pretty much becoming commonplace. But what does AI mean for creativity? Does it mean the ability to gain an intelligent creative or marketing "assistant" thereby freeing you to focus on being truly strategic at your work? Should you embrace it or does it pose as a threat?

Answering all this and more at the exchange4media Conclave which took place on November 16 in Mumbai, Tamara Ingram, Chief Executive Officer of J. Walter Thompson, the Headline Speaker at the annual event, discussed ‘Hu(man) and Machine’, and whether AI can be creative.

Ingram addressed the future of creativity particularly in the context of AI. “Five years ago, I never thought that a machine, something like AI, will replace what it means to be human,” she exclaimed.

The CEO discussed media, how creativity is placed and how AI can help with it all. “AI is going to ask us fundamental questions on what it is to be human. “It’s only fair to say that at the moment, we’re standing at the edge of a precipice when it comes to AI and data,” reflected Ingram. She asserted that the power that AI has, it is changing the way, we are teaching people, it is changing the way products are generated and that in the end will change creativity.

She revealed that if you actually Google search, you will see 4.9 billion searches for creativity and 4.2 billion searches for AI. “AI is becoming as important in people’s minds as creativity,” Ingram said.

Addressing the dilemma whether AI is a friend or foe, she reflected, “What I found distressing is that when you think about AI, people are very concerned about their jobs and the consequences. When we look at Facebook, American elections and what happened, we think that is the information that AI fetches is a help to creativity or is it going to dampen the impact and differentiation.”

Ingram shared that her contention today is that there is nothing new in AI. “What’s new is the power of what we can do with AI and the power of how it can either help us with creativity or take away from it,” she pointed out.

She highlighted AI’s power of prediction. “Humans have emotions and that may affect our predictability. The machine has the power to predict like nothing else can. It enables us to predict cancers and generate personalized medicines. It’s enabling us to save the world. Products, after all, are things that solve problems. Our job is around producing and marketing of these live-changing products. I believe it will change the world to something much better than what we are seeing.”

AI in marketing is gaining ground with more and more brands incorporating machine learning to leverage customer data and enable behavioural targeting. With the evolution of big data, digital marketers can build a clearer picture of their target audience, which can greatly boost their campaigns’ performance and ROI.

The 16th edition of exchange4media Conclave will bring together thought leaders from across the globe to give an in-depth insight on how AI is changing society and the foundations of business. The event scheduled for today in Mumbai will follow the theme of ‘Marketer and Machine: How will AI transform marketing?’

Today, some of our key speakers include Tamara Ingram, Chief Executive Officer of J. Walter Thompson Company, who will be the headline speaker at the event, speaking on the topic ‘Artificial intelligence and Art’. The next special address will be by Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman & CEO, AMEA, Russia, and CIS, Mindshare who will talk about 'Decoding Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in the Context of Marketing'. RS Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) (AMUL) will also give a special address on the topic 'Ground Reality: How Is Tech Transforming Modern Enterprises'.

After an interactive and engaging panel discussion, the evening will move towards Fireside Chat with Vivek B Srivatsa, Head-Marketing - Passenger Cars, Tata Motors in conversation with Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Madison Media & OOH, Madison World, discussing the ‘Power of Print’. This will be followed by our next speaker for the event, Rahul Agarwal, CEO and Managing Director, Lenovo India, who will discuss AI and its implications for organisations and individuals.

A Master Class will also take place simultaneously by Rupin Nanani, Head - Research and Analytics, Zirca, who will cover the topic ‘Building efficiencies with Native Advertising’.

The evening will conclude with the Influencer of The Year Award to be conferred by our past winners CVL Srinivas, Country Manager, WPP and Raj Nayak, COO, Viacom18. The Award honours visionaries who have transformed the industry and inspired the next level of growth while progressively using innovative technology for business achievements.

Sunfeast Yippee!, ITC Food Division’s popular instant noodle brands, has tied up with online grocery store Bigbasket for its new ‘My’ range. As part of the partnership the four variants from this range (My Crazy Chow, My Madly Manchurian, My Mystery Masala and My Truly Chicken) will be available exclusively at the online grocery for over a week.

Following this. it will be distributed to all modern and general trade stores nationwide. With this one week tie-up the brand hopes for an ‘instant’ feedback from the 25 cities (where Bigbasket has a presence).

Hemant Malik, Divisional Chief Executive − Foods Division, ITC Ltd, explains, “People will taste it and then post it. That gives me the confidence of continuing with all four variants. Is there something that’s lacking? Can I do some quick fix around that?”

With Yippee! ‘My’ range, the brand expands its portfolio to young consumers with unique offerings that reflect their consumption choices and provides a new twist with unique flavour combinations. With Yippee Mallik’s focus is entirely on kids and insists on creating a new generation with the same.

“We found that there is a generation which has been brought up on Maggi. I need to create a new generation. In kids TG we are the most preferred brand. As they are growing up – We have been there for seven-eight years. So my TG has also grown up and are now 15-16 years old. I want to make sure my new variants cater them" he added.

When asked about the target Malik answers, “We are looking to grow faster than the industry rate of 8-9 per cent.”

Each pack is of 60gms and all vegetarian variants are available for Rs 15 while the non-vegetarian, Truly Chicken variant is priced at Rs 18.

The promotion for this tie-up is happening only on digital. On the site of Bigbasket its landing page informs about the exclusive launch with a contest and combo offer.

Hari Menon, Co-founder and CEO, bigbasket said “Product marketing is witnessing a paradigm shift in India. Many players are also launching their products online thanks to the surge in e-commerce in the country. We are delighted to be partnering with Sunfeast Yippee! to launch the new variants of their widely loved instant noodles exclusively on the bigbasket portal. It is a never-before offer which will not only catapult the popularity of the brand but also resonate with bigbasket's policy of bringing new and exciting offers to our customers. Our endeavour is to make the customer experience better at every step and this partnership will do that and more.”

Menon shared that they are looking at this partnerships with other brands and are aiming for a launch every quarter. The promotion and mainstream marketing for ‘My’ range will start in a month after Sunfeast has achieved ‘ a certain amount of distribution.’

The brand will also work with 80-100 micro-bloggers across India for them to try and taste it. “Let them try, taste, cook it and give their feedback. In fact, our whole TVC is around that as well,” Malik informs. For the Foods Division of ITC Ltd ecommerce platforms contributes to almost 1.5 per cent of the overall sales. “To put it in perspective modern trade is about 13-14 per cent. As marketers, we have to make sure that in every channel our presence is there so that at every access point the consumer is able to get our product.”

Malik is quite content with the progress Yippee has made in the packaged noodles segment. It is Rs 1000 crore brand with 22 per cent market share. He confesses of the category undergoing through a tough time and feels these developments will benefit the category overall.